My husband took some close up shots of me for my Clinique lip gloss post from last week. I was shocked at how bad my skin looked, my pores are as huge as the sponge, and my skin tone is so uneven, all the early signs of aged skin. Wow, it was bad, I almost had to call 911. I could not believe my eyes, how did I allow my skin to get to this stage, this is so sad.
I can’t believe I’m actually showing you guys this. This is the straight-out-of-camera photo. I hope you guys won’t be scared by this, it’s pretty bad. Of course, I had to retouch the crap at of it for my Clinique lip gloss post.
See what I mean?
It seemed like I gave up on taking care of my skin after I had my son. I used to get all the fancy stuff to try, and make sure I have a mask treatment every week, and went to spa to get facial done. I was young, with nicer skin anyway, but I did all I could to maintain it to its best potential. Once I started being a mom, everything on my face just started falling apart. But I wasn’t ready to let it stay this way, I want to have young looking skin as long as I can.
I did some research online, and narrowed down to a few things I want to try. I hurried to Sephora as soon as I could. I got samples of four different things to try. Sephora is so nice about giving samples, they will put whatever you want in a little pot for you to try. You can get at least a week’s worth of product to try.
These three products are Max Complexion Correction Pads from Peter Thomas Roth, Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask from Fresh, The Present Clear Makeup from Philosophy, and Pore No More Pore Refiner from Dr. Brandt.
Ok, so here it goes, the correction pads from PTR are amazing. I started seeing results after the first use, and each day just gets better and better. My pores are getting smaller and smaller, black heads are getting less and less, and skin tone started to even out. I mean this thing is unbelievable.
You will get this tingling sensation when you start using it, but it goes away pretty quick. The peachy smell is nice. This product actually does something. You can get them from Sephora for $36, and it contains 60 pads. I cut them in half, since I mainly just use it on my t-zone, this way I can get 4 months usage at of one jar’s pads. I definitely recommend this to everyone with complexion and large pore problems.
I also have been trying the black tea mask from Fresh, and I have to say that I’m not that impressed. I mean I like how it feels on my skin, but I don’t want to pay for $85 just to feel good on my skin for a few hours a week. For that kind of price, I want a product that does more, and does something more substantial. This isn’t it. I love the smell, and the ultra whipped texture, but that’s about it. Sorry Fresh, I’m not sold on this one.
Philosophy’s clear makeup is very different to everything I have used. I like the concept of using it alone as a moisturizer. I would do anything to reduce the number of steps I need to take to get ready in the morning. This stuff is like a thick white gel, you spread around your face. It feels great and makes your skin look great with less-visible pores and even skin tone, but you have to wait for a two full minutes before you start to apply your make up.
I forgot to wait all two minutes one morning, and put on my foundation, and it was a disaster. My foundation and the clear make up stuff got mixed together to a beige thick gel that stayed on top of your skin, not pleasing to look at. I had to take off all my make up and start over again.
With the combination of the correction pads and this clear makeup thing, I don’t even need to apply foundation anymore. My skin looks flawless with blush for some color and shimmer for some glow. This is a more natural look, which I love, because it’s my own skin without all the cover up . I now save my foundation for special occasions for extreme coverage.
Clear makeup, $25, moisturizer also doubled as foundation, saves money and saves time, what a great buy! Highly recommended.
I haven’t started using the pore refiner for Dr. Brandt yet, because I want to see what they can do individually. This pore refiner is more like a foundation base. I’ll probably wait till I’m done with the Philosophy’s clear makeup to start using the pore refiner. I’ll write another post to keep you guys updated. Thank you for reading, I hope this helps with your daily skin care routine. Don’t give up, girls! Looking good brightens up our day!
